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Monsanto Blockchain Partnership

In June of last year, the controversial agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto fully rebranded to Bayer Crop Science. Around that time, the company began other ways to bring change to their company. One of those was to begin research into blockchain technology, and partnerships to help reproduce the benefits of blockchain networks in other big data and research companies within their own processes.

Most recently, the company is still dealing with federal court cases in the United States for one of their most commonly used consumer products. An individual sued the company after getting cancer, which the root cause of which has been drawn to use of the product “Round Up.” The results of this trial should be finalized this month.

However, in a more progressive light, the company has begun a partnership with BlockApps to help facilitate this process. BlockApps is one of the offshoots from leading Ethereum Network developer ConsenSys. The categorize themselves as a Blockchain-as-a-Service company, helping start ups, as well as producing technology advancements for Fortune 500 customers such as John Hancock, Minsheng Insurance and BHP Billiton. The company operates almost completely separate from Consensys at this point, but the ties will likely remain strong, as CEO of BlockApps is, ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin’s son.

“Blockchain is a tool and not the destination. We describe ourselves as more of a business network company these days.” - BlockApps CEO Kieren James-Lubin

BlockApps integrates viable systems of the customers to the STRATO network. STRATO is an extension of Ethereum. It is an an open-source Blockchain standard that is simple for developers to work with. Their customers have come from a myriad of industries such as finance, insurance, supply chain, energy, healthcare, and many more. Unlike IBM Hyperledger, R3 and other enterprise blockchains, STRATO is not static or limited to vertical use cases, and does not pose a very high cost of entry.

As a multifaceted, global company, Bayer Crop Science is looking to this development to “increase our applications of blockchain, both in our operations and in our industry.” - Michael Pareles, the global digital strategy manager of Bayer’s Crop Science division